Almost half of the world's population lives in inadequate housing, including in slums and squatter settlements. Current worldwide need for low-cost, affordable housing is significant and growing. Modern utilities distributions are also inefficient and many people still do not have basic sanitation facilities. Where utilities are available, the approach to utilities has been to make it easy for the provider rather than efficient to the user. Unfortunately, traditional home construction and the building industry have not changed to address these challenges. Typical construction practices are increasingly expensive, inefficient, and require specific skilled labor.
Traditional building construction relies on various types of skilled workers to complete discrete components of a building or phases of construction, including framing, insulation, utilities, interior and exterior architectural finishes; each step separate from the other and requiring different skills. Modular building construction allows some of the assembly to be performed in a manufacturing facility off-site and once on-site the pre-built sections can be assembled into the building using traditional building methods; however, this prefab method is limited in design and still requires the same skilled workers and processes. For example, one type of pre-built component used in modular construction is the structural insulated panel (SIP). SIPs allow for insulation to be included in a panel and are constructed off-site. On-site, the SIPs are assembled into a building using traditional building methods including the use of separate structural framing with posts and beams, and with attachment using screws, nails, etc. Further steps are needed to complete the building, including providing interior and exterior finishes, and connecting utilities, for example. These conventional building techniques, including conventional SIPs, do not address or contemplate a total home building solution. Thus, inefficiencies remain in terms of speed, quality, cost, and utilities, and there is currently no high-quality, low-cost, flexible, efficient system for building construction.
What is needed is a total home building solution that is sustainable, secure, high-quality, efficient, fast and easy to construct, and economical. Housing and building construction in accordance with the principles of the present invention is based on the principles of high technology, high efficiency, and high quality. Buildings can be built on-site with local labor and no special skills and/or equipment in accordance with the principles of the invention. The inventive technology can have factory-finished interior and exterior surfaces to ensure high tolerances and high quality at the highest efficiency and lowest cost. In addition to finishes, utilities such as plumbing and electrical systems can be integrated into the building solution to reduce the need for additional time, expertise, and materials. Indeed, there can be no need for utility hook-ups. The inventive solution can include the lowest energy profiles for any and all climates as well as high seismic and fire resistance.
This better building construction can be achieved through the use of various embodiments of the invention. The inventive technology includes the use of inventive building materials, building units, and construction methods. The inventive construction method is both efficient and economical in terms of time to build, amount of complexity and discrete components needed, and skill required. Some of the building units of the invention are referred to herein as structural insulated building units (SIBUs). The SIBUs can provide inherent structural integrity to a building and can include an insulating core. The interior and exterior surfaces of the structural insulated building units can be factory-finished to simplify and shorten the construction process. Electricity can be provided via local solar, wind, or mechanical power with 12 volt electrical systems. Water and waste management systems are also available locally to enable a self-sufficient structure. Novel cementitious materials and composites of the invention can include extruded cementitious materials, fiber-reinforced concrete, and foamed concrete. The panel units incorporate the preferred structural strength, bacterial and/or fungal resistance, surface characteristics and finishes, and freeze and/or thaw resistance to achieve an inventive total home building solution.